Monday, 14 December 2015

Time sure flies fast, 2015 will soon end. Will you look back over the months passed and wonder what you have achieved as a writer? Will you think about what you want to do in the year ahead? Thinking is great, but to attain success with publication you have to act on your wish, set your actions into motion, As 2016 begins and you call out "Happy New Year", tell yourself, I resolve to:

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1. Find the time to write and keep to it. Over a 24-hour day we work in paying jobs, take care of family, do household chores, catch up with friends, pursue personal interests and finally sleep to refresh for the next day. We all have these obligations but many of us also have some spare time to do as we wish. Devote that time to writing, not to Facebook or Twitter or episodes of your favourite TV show, and be disciplined about it. Use the time to settle on a plot, a setting, the characters' motivations, goals and conflicts, and then write. You'll be glad you did. If you have just one free hour in the day and you write 500 words, in a month you'll have written 15,000 words, and in just six months a novel-length 90,000 words. That's a full first draft you can then polish to submission standard.

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2. Write in the way you are comfortable with. Are you a Plotter, your story organised before you begin to write and editing is minimal? Are you a Pantser, more free with your creativity? Are you another type of writer, perhaps a Scener like me, visualising scenes out of order and putting them together like a jigsaw puzzle? However you write, however the words come easiest to you, keep doing it that way. It's the way you write best.

3. Hone your craft. Study how-to-write books. Read the books of the authors you admire and discover what it is about their writing that makes them a success. Attend seminars and conferences, network with authors and editors and agents and learn how they work.Your writing will grow and be better for it.

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4. Stop procrastinating. Are you playing computer games or checking your phone for messages or emails? Are you rearranging the contents of your kitchen cupboards? Are you searching for things to do because you doubt your writing self and can't bear to stare at a computer screen blank of words? Writing is often scary and hard to do, but if you really, really, really want to be published you have to sit down in front of that screen and fill it with a word, a paragraph, a chapter, and a full novel will form. An achievement you can be proud of.

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5. Revise your writing as you write. Your writing will slow down as you rework the plot or fix the pacing and POV errors, but, as James Scott Bellreveals in Revision and Self-Editing for Publication, 2nd Edition, you will end up with a cleaner first draft that needs far less revision.6. Do something different if your writing has stalled and and you're stuck. Is a plot-point problematic? Are you writing a scene in a point-of-view that's not moving the story forward? Is the mid-point of your story sagging? Are you stagnated with your writing? Brainstorm with critique partners. Change the character POV. Add new scenes filled with tension-inducing action. Reignite your creativity by writing in a new genre.

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7. Promote yourself and your writing. Social media is vital for success today so if you want to make yourself known as a writer set up a Facebook page, open a Google+ account, organise a website, join Twitter and engage regularly with your followers.

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8. Write from the heart. Is your writing distanced, told with little emotion? Reveal your own fears and tears and joys in the words you write and readers will laugh and cry with the characters from page one to the end,

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9. Say to yourself, "I am a writer!" You may not yet be published but you write. You write because writing is an intrinsic part of you. It is hard. At times it's so hard you wonder if the effort is worth it or if you'll ever get it right, but if you focus on the end reward, that vision of your book published, the frustrations and tears and the pressure you put on yourself are so, so worth it!

I have a dream. I am a writer but I want to be a published writer. The resolutions I've talked about are mine. I will act on every one of them every day of 2016 because they will help bring my dream within reach and I really, really, really want my dream to be reality.

What about you? Will you make resolutions this coming New Year? Will you commit to them and make them happen? I wish you joy through the coming holiday season and a Happy New Year but above all, I hope your dreams will come true, too.Love to love - my motto: Dream it. Believe it. Achieve it.

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Love to laugh -with my critique partners as we thrash our stories into shape!Love to learn - A dream remains a dream if I don't do anything to make it real.

Hi Enisa and thanks for these great tips. My biggest dream will come true in January 2016 when Harlequin MIRA publish my book, 'The Farmer's Perfect Match', so my year is set for a fantastic start. As for my commitments, firstly and most importantly,I'll be finishing my wip.

Hi Marilyn. What a great 2015 you've had. Your hard work through the year proves my point of commitment giving results. Again, congratulations on your dream coming true. I look forward to my copy of your first book.

Hi Enisa. Thank you for all of your valuable advice. I particularly liked "Write in the way you are comfortable with", and saying to yourself, "I am a writer." An inspirational and insightful post. Thank you.

Hi Enisa. Lots to think about on your list. Keeping to goals is a real mental and physical test. It is good to make sure your goals/resolutions are something achievable and reward yourself when you have completed certain tasks towards your resolution. I'm off to write some of my own - Eeek.

Hi Cassandra. Yes, set goals you know you can aim for and success is yours. It's when we set impossible goals that we fail. Great idea to reward yourself when a goal is reached. Gives us more incentive and when we reach the goal we're doubly satisfied.

Excellent post, Enisa and a reminder of the power of words to change a mindset. I find commitment less scary than goal (which usually means assigning a number of words). A commitment might just be to sit in the chair and write a single sentence or paragraph or plot line. Who knows what might flow from there? Here's to a great 2016. Thanks for finding the time to write the post at the pointy end of the year. Wishing you a great 2016.

Hi Sharon. Yes, goal is scarier than commitment. Many times we set goals too impossible to reach and then lose faith when we don't achieve them. And starting small, taking little steps, gives us the confidence to then increase our pace and, voila, before we know it our goals are within reach. Have a wonderful 2016 filled with loads of writing.

Hi Marilyn, great post and time management is something I am struggling with at the moment. I write by scenes and by time. I don't go by words because some days I am writing and others revising. I try to set a goal of one scene per writing session though at this time of the year - like everyone else - xmas, family etc, it is hard to get much done. Resolution for next year is to set certain hours aside - turn off phone, don't answer door unless emergency and just write. I have a deadline in June and way behind so freaking out just a little...Will write on wall- HAVE TO BE MORE DISCIPLINED!

How wonderful to be included in such an awesome list. Thank you so much - and especially to Miranda for such a lovely review.We started our new year with the arrival of our first grand baby at 3am on January 1st (we were a bit too distracted to watch fireworks) followed by the arrival of a new puppy on January 6th. So even if Pollyanna's story is exciting I don't think it comes close to our New Year. Happy New Year to all, and once again, thank you.